White House-Amazon spat ends with Trump praising Bezos

President Donald Trump's 100th day in office started with what seemed to be a fresh, escalating spat between the White House and Amazon.

- SHAWN MCCREESH KAREN WEISE

Karoline Leavitt, the White House press secretary, came out swinging at her news briefing Tuesday morning, accusing Amazon of being "hostile and political" after a report — disputed by the company — from Punchbowl News that said the online retail giant would start displaying the exact cost of tariff-related price increases alongside all its products.

Displaying the import fees would have made clear to American consumers that they were shouldering the costs of Trump's tariff policies rather than China, contrary to what Trump and his top officials have often claimed would be the case.

After the report was published, Trump spoke about it over the phone with Jeff Bezos, Amazon's founder, according to three people familiar with the exchange. Amazon spokespeople hurriedly issued denials that the policy was going into effect, and by Tuesday afternoon, Trump was back to praising Bezos.

"Jeff Bezos is very nice," Trump said to reporters as he embarked on a trip to Michigan for a rally commemorating the first 100 days of his second term. "He solved the problem very quickly. He did the right thing. Good guy."